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Three police officers perished and no fewer than 15 additional individuals were hurt in what appears to be intentional blast caused by gas at a farmhouse in Italy's north.

Event Timeline

The blast took place as police and firefighters entered the house near the city of Verona to enforce an eviction order for three siblings aged in their 50s and 60s.

The three deceased individuals were members of the Carabinieri military police.

Legal Proceedings

One male and one female were arrested at the scene and another man who fled subsequent to the explosion was apprehended shortly later. All three have been transported to medical facility.

The detonation could be heard approximately 5 kilometers away and images from the location displayed the property reduced to a mass of wreckage.

“This moment calls for sorrow,” said the Interior Minister the Interior Minister, who mentioned that efforts had been made to displace the brother and sister trio in the past.

Financial Context

The leader of the Veneto area, the regional head, said the property was facing an eviction order due to financial obligations accumulated by the property owners.

Conflict resolution experts had been assigned to engage the siblings who had barricaded themselves into the property. When the officers came just after 03:00 (01:00 GMT), investigators suspect one of the residents caused the explosion.

“Upon entering the house, we were confronted with an act of absolute madness,” regional commander the police commander told news outlets.

A gas canister had been ignited, and the blast directly hit our officers,” he added.

Petrol bombs were also located at the site, the minister said.

Injuries and Destruction

Injured individuals by the incident included 11 other members of the military police as well as three members of national police and a firefighter.

Based on information from the prosecuting attorney, the property was in a poor condition and had lacked electrical service.

The prosecutor believed the detonation had happened on a story above the entrance and told journalists it was a “intentional and planned killing”. Moments before the explosion, he said members had “detected a whistling noise, presumably the gas cylinders being activated”.

Neighbor Statements

“We all knew the situation was dire,” local residents told reporters, mentioning that the three had in the past stated to “detonate the property” rather than vacate the property.

“The explosion had left a ‘terrible, very painful and dramatic toll’.”

Defence Minister the Defence Minister joined other political leaders in paying tribute to the three men who had been killed in the line of duty.